This Tape Might END The G.O.A.T Debate! | Michael Jordan Historic Bulls Mixtape | Reaction 

There never was a goat debate. The media kept trying to push it over and over again but Jordan is way way way ahead in literally everything but playing longer

Jordan was the most athletic and had the most fundamentals rare to have both 48 inch vertical still best to this day😂😂😂😂

During his first retirement they retired and 23:45 put his jersey in the rafters, but had to pay a fine for not getting permission to return to 23. Lebron wants to have the best players on his team, but Jordan made his teammates practice, play and think like Champions. Lebron wants to recruit the best players for teammates, but Jordan wants to BEAT the best players

The special bond MJ has forged with basketball fans is that we always know he's going show up, play, and try his hardest to win. Adam Silver once said that MJ takes it as his responsibility to always play because he knows families would save up money to buy ticket and watch him. And those amazing highlights he delivered? That's what makes the ticket even more worth it. Nobody understood the role of the modern athlete better than Michael Jordan.

In this soft era of load management and a lack of physicality on defense, Mike would DOMINATE. Imagine giving the man you just saw space to operate inside. Dropping him in this era would be like letting a rabid dog off his chain. He's the greatest athlete with the best fundamentals and an absolutely maniacal need to win at all costs. If you want to know how much of a freak of nature he was, go watch the guys he played with and against talk about him playing 36 holes of golf before a game, or staying up all night playing cards. And he still played all 82 games 9 of his 15 years. 48" vertical, HUGE hands, incredible strength, especially for his size. Mike had it all. And he was an assassin to boot. Lebron is amazing, but he will never be Mike. Maybe future generations won't regard him as the 🐐. But whether they do or not doesn't change the fact that he's the greatest player ever to lace them up. There will never be another

My favorite Jordan moment…against the Jazz and Michael dunked on someone shorter (I think it was Stockton) and a fan yelled pick on someone your own size or something like that. The next time down the court MJ dunked on 7’4” Mark Eaton and said to the fan, was he big enough for you. True story.

MJ would do everything you saw in that video to everyone in the current no hand-checking, give me space, easy to score league...he scored regularly on/over 7ft bigs while taking punches, rib shots, elbows, shoulders, and full on tackles and STILL scored.. GOAT 🐐

A few things: A. Jordan played all 82 games 9 times including at 40 for the Wizards. B. People talk about today’s athletes athleticism. Show me any other player ever who caught that many dunks on people’s heads body to body. Especially in a much more physical league. SHOW ME. C. Show me another player with that offensive repertoire that would do these kinds of amazing moves every game. Dunk package footwork package ultra athletic finishes. Trick shot finishes. Mid range fade away. SHOW ME WHO. D. Show me a player with that combined level of offensive and defensive mastery while being Uber clutch. Show me. E. Jordan once got 10 triple doubles in 11 games when he moved to point guard for a bit. Averaged 11 assists in his first Finals. Jordan was a scorer as his primary role but could do it all. F. People talking about the level of player then are ignorant it if they think Jordan wouldn’t dominate any era explain to me how a 39 year old Jordan with bad knees was going toe to toe with Kobe TMac Mcgrady etc on the Wizards. He was averaging 26ppg before he had to have knee surgery. H. Show me another player who had to go through the bruising physical play of the Bad Boys Pistons and still prevailed. Especially a 6’6 220 pound shooting guard. I want to see the other player in NBA history that consistently pulled off the insanity in this video - and you could literally make 10 more of these videos using different footage. This in no way captured anywhere near it all. Luka is nowhere near the athlete or player prime Jordan was and look at what he’s doing. Jordan would destroy todays NBA and anyone who doesn’t think so either just blindly hates Jordan or is profoundly ignorant about the game. Those are the only two options.

It wasn't unnecessary move , He believed Sam Perkins was going to block the lay up so he anticipated the block and switched hands young fella.

His #23 was still retired and it was up in the Raptors. So he returned to #23 after some of the Magic players said #45 wasn’t as good as #23 , so MJ took it personal. He was and still is the G.O.A.T. 🐐

That play against the Lakers was his 13th FG in a row. He was feelin it

I was a teenager when the bulls win their first title. So I’ve seen many of the stars during the 90s till now. You have you’re stats then their is MJ. He’s in his own class. But the way he handled the ball is what made him different then everyone else. Every move he made he tried to make perfect. He wasn’t only a ball player but a entertainer. He did Thor’s moves when it wasn’t necessary for the eye effect for the fans. Just because he could. He was that good. And it was so much harder if a sport back then. But that ever sport now.

This is why we say he would average 50 because they didn't call foul on that body to body in this era. Those are free throws also in this era. He would've shot way more free throws. On top of what he did.

When I came back, I didn't want to play in the last number that my father had seen me wear," Jordan wrote"Because he wasn't around, I thought of my return as a new beginning."Those Jordan 45 jerseys became collector's items because MJ reverted back to the No. 23 after just 23 games.. ............and He actually didn't copy anyone's game if you look at David Thompson or Dr. J their playing styles are totally Different I had the Privilege of seeing David Thompson , Dr.J and MJ play MJ was a straight killer on the court

Crazy stat: In his last year with the Bulls, MJ averaged holding the ball for just 3 mins 45 seconds per game and still scored just a shade under 30. So each quarter he held the ball for just a little over 56 seconds. Crazy stuff.

I don't think defense is better now at all. It was so much more physical back then. Jordan is one of a kind. He was clutch, he played nearly every game. His layup package is second to no one. And don't forget, for all that he was on offense, he also won a defensive player of year award. I'm not even a Bulls fan on any level, and I'd put the 95-96 Bulls against any modern team any day of the week, and it's because of Jordan. And remember, he was never looking to change teams just to get a ring. He's unmatched.

Jordan apparently had the same FG% in the clutch as he did the rest of the game. Honestly thats one of the coldest low key stats i ever heard about him. Clutch.

If this video doesn’t prove to the world that MJ was/is the best ever then nothing will !

His jersey was retired after he retired the first time. Thats why he wore 45 for a while. Then when the Orlando magic said 45 is not the same as 23. He put the 23 back on despite having to pay a fine until the Bulls un retired the number the next yesr.

The cool thing about watching Jordan was he was just as good every single game. You could pick basically any game and he just shit on everyone else lol.

I mean it was the finals, his 1st one and he had just made 12 straight of an eventual 13 straight buckets so I can’t blame him, he created the most memorable single moment in finals history with the spectacular move 💯🐐

JOrdan has A LOT of respect for Bird, Magic, Wilt, Kareem. He would NEVER say he is BETTER than them.

I loved this reaction. Clearly you have the historical knowledge. Lots of great references in your reaction. I just can’t see how anyone watches this and looks at the 6/6 finals and his career average and play offs average and think he isn’t number 1 on the mountain.

It wasn't an unnecessary move,as Jordan stated,he saw "long arm"(his words) Sam Perkins show,he thought he was gonna contest the dunk so he switched ball to his left. Perkins never jumped,but as Jordan got in the lane,Perkins did show. It looked unnecessary after play happened bc Perkins never jumped,but instinctively it was necessary

Hope they keep fighting for Bron when he loses next season, too (like he did this year). In the draft of life, we, the adults, trade him to the kids💯

When he retired to play Baseball, his #23 Jersey was retired, so when he came back he had to wear 45 until 23 was unretired

Jordan had the 48 inch vertical and ran the 40 yard dash in 4.3 seconds

Man you had to have just been there. No one else has made more people fans of basketball than Jordan. I became an NBA fan because of Jordan. He was absolutely magical. There is no one who could take control of a game the way he did. I was actually excited when the buzz of LeBron started while he was still in high school. But he never had the absolute dominance that Jordan had. There was no debate, everyone who watched him play knew that they were witnessing a once in a lifetime athlete.

Twice won the NBA scoring championship while also racking up 100+ blocks and 200+ steals. People can get into their feels about Bron or Pippen or Phil Jackson. But he didn't need Pip or Phil out there to knock down a shot, or block an opponent or get a steal. Those were all him. And Bron never had a season like those. Add to the fact, if you take Bron's best season scoring, Michael had 7 seasons that were better than that. There never was a GOAT debate.

Michael jordan voyager is a must watch. There's 2 parts and the first one i actually like better than this mixtape. Jordan made crazy ass shots regularly. Highlight reel stuff on a nightly basis.

Jordan retired 23 after his father's death he wore 45 for baseball then he changed back to 23 because he said it didn't feel natural. He got fined for changing it back

Meet the G.O.A.T of all G.O.A.Ts, we call him Black Jesus, Air Jordan, His Airness, Flight 23 or simply the greatest basketball player in the history of the game. #23

My Top three of all time are #1 Michael Jordan #2 Larry Bird #3 Magic Johnson

Defense is harder now Offense is now easier Offense was harder before, that's the nuance and MJ still had more offensive prowess when it was harder to score Than today's era

MJ NO1 BY FAAAAAAR!! 😊😊😊

I can't believe people get to the play against the Lakers where he switched to his left hand at the last second to lay it up and then say he only did that to show off. He made that move, because he was anticipating the defender (who was known as a guy that blocked shots) was going to try to block it. So he switched hands, but the defender didn't jump. So the replay looks as if that move was unnecessary.

MJ was pure finesse...the grace and mentality the hand check needs to come back, right now its a free for all to make the game faster....MJ been out game 20 yrs and he still relevant..instead of saying they were plumbers not good player,just say he was better than everyone else..at every rec its somebody better then everyone.he wore 45 because his 23 was retired and he had to pay to get back..

That 16:02 free throw dunk in is insane. MJ came out left field.

MJ hasn't played in damn near 3 decades and his name still rings bells this will not change. He changed the game and put basketball on the map around the world..G.O.A.T

I love that "plumbers" comment considering Luka & Joker look more like plumbers than anyone I can remember in the Jordan era. How are those two plumbers doing in this more athletic era?

I play a lot of ball. I'm noticing youngsters developing a 3pt. shot. I mean they are in jr high or high school. And a lot of them can do it. It's starting to look like 3pt. shooting might not be all that difficult. It was always about how much you focused on the 3pt shot. Back then it wasn't a focus. Not Jordan or anybody else back then was told to shoot 3's. Now, it is a 100 % focus. You know what I don't see youngsters do? They don't focus on their foot work. They might have the step back or side step but that's it. And even grown adults also have issues with foot work. Footwork is hands down the most difficult thing to achieve in basketball. Also athleticism and heart. When Jordan was playing in the league at 40, he still played every possession with heart. He was all out on defense and offense. He was never caught standing around waiting for something to happen. So today's NBA is just really not a fine product. It lost it's heart and that's why I can't consider any of these players playing today as greats. This is why Jordan will always be my Goat. This video shows what stats can't. And even with stats, he's still tremendously impressive.

His best finals game was 69 points with 18 rebounds it was a masterpiece

He wore #45 because he retired after winning 3 str8 rings & mvp of those rings...his father also was murdered. When he returned from retirement he chose #45 his high school number. When asked why he said: “I didn't want to wear 23 because I knew my father wasn't there to watch me, and I felt it was a new beginning and 45 was my first number when I was playing in high school." He went back to #23 after the first game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Jordan said that he didn't want to focus on becoming a consistent 3 point shooter because he felt that it would take away from other aspects of his game even tho he was a good enough 3 point shooter

MJ and Dr.J..good one. But, Mike too quick and too good a ball handler

This is when he came back out of retirement. He took a yr and a half off and came back February close to his birthday with #45. He wore it a few games and then so.e other player said to Mike you ain't playing like #23 so next game he wore 23 and paid fines for the whole season to wear his old number.

No disrespect at all to Julias Irving, but Michael Jordan didn't copy his game even in the slightest bit. One of the only people I've seen actually totally copy another player's game was Kobe Bryant copied Michael Jordans game. Which of course makes perfect sense because they trained together in the off season and were friends.

That Layup against the Lakers in the Finals was not unnecessary. He doesn't know that the first Defender isn't really going to commit to challenging the layup, so he did what he thought was he needed to do to get the best attempt possible. I hate when people say that, like they do not see that first guy pretending that he's going to challenge.

You dont see the rock-the-cradle dunk anymore because most of the super leapers of today are two-footed leapers who need to set and plant off 2-feet to get major air. These are guys who have used plyometric training their entire lives. The best one-footed leaper of the past 15 years was Lebron, and he simply doesn't have the fluidity and body control to do it (partially due to his size). Ja Morant might be able to do it.

i recommend MJ voyager rare videos 1 and 2 and his defensive highlights videos

The reason for MJ getting past so many defenders was not because they were "plumbers," but because he was such a great passer, shooter, faker, footwork, finishing skill, and most important, had the quickest first step in the NBA. When defending Jordan, since he was capable of any of these, regardless of distance from the basket, a defender had to guard against all of the possibilities. Jordan could beat you in a multiplicity of ways. The other thing is that, especially late in games, Jordan was not afraid to go to the hole because, if he missed because of a foul, he was a great free throw shooter. (unlike some people I know that avoid contact at the basket late in games because of atrocious free throw shooting!) It can easily be said that the 80's and 90's era produced some of the best defenders in NBA history, including Jordan himself (both led the league in scoring [35 ppg] & won defender of the year in the same season [87-88]!), and teammates Pippen, Rodman, and Harper, among many others in the league... who could defend anyone from any era, especially this one.

Mike came up when many of the old school greats were recently retired or still playing, so he took a little from everybody's bag and showed them he could do it too. He retired after the first three-peat and played Baseball for 1 season. Then he came hack to the Bulls for the second three-peat.

They don't play all out like that anymore sad era😢😢😢😢😢

22:59 He retired 23. When he came back with 45, someone made a comment about how “45 isn’t 23”. Next game, 23 was back. IT IS ILLEGAL to retire a jersey and bring it back ($100k fine❓⁉️). The league is like “Michael, YK you can’t do this, right❓⁉️” He said “Yes, I know. Take this money and GTFO my face. I’ll see you (next game)”. 23 was officially back because someone talked shit (forgot who, but he tells the story)🤣🤣🤣🤣😂🤣 #OnlyMike

Big men in the paint used to pray their teamates would stop MJ from the perimeter. The terror in their face when it didnt work and the big man getting dunked on from anywhere was crazy. No one did it like that other than KOBE 💯💯💯

“…they looked like plumbers.” If Michael Jordan played today, his opponents would look like plumbers. Except he’d be scoring 50 points a game.

I gotcha bro. On the switch hands layup. He said he seen Sam Perkins about to jump so he switched it in mid air.

He had number 45 on because after his first retirement his number 23 Jersey was retired on the Bulls so they had to wait a season until they could unretire it in the offseason so he could use it in the 96 season. This man was looking at a statue of himself in the United Center while still playing there. 😂

He wore the number 45 when he came back from retirement. After a while, he was able to use his number 23 again.

Chicago Bulls retired number 23 after he left in 1993. When he come back, he choose 45, because that was his favorite number in childhood. Later, he use again 23 (in the game against Orlando in 1995).

MJ🥰 MY GOAT FOREVER～FOREVER 💯💯🌟🌟無與倫比

I don't think Jordan will be forgotten as easily as the older players that came before him (like Wilt and Bill, or even Dr. J to an extent), and even Kareem, due to most of his peak career being available online -- the fact that he still has the highest records, accolades, season and per game stats and analytics to this day and it's just not possible for LeBron to catch him makes it hard. People who argue that LeBron is the best are largely doing it based on longevity -- but even before LeBron hit these longevity stats, Kareem had the Longevity records and quite a few more accolades than LeBron, but almost no one was calling Kareem the GOAT over MJ. If LeBron's longevity makes him better than MJ, then Kareem should've been better than MJ by everyone before this since he both had the longevity AND more accolades than LeBron, but that's recency bias for you. I think in 25 years some people will remember LeBron, but there will probably be newer players that people say are better than LeBron. And with modern medicine we might have NBA players playing 25, 30, or even 35 years if they crack genetics and aging. You never know, then LeBron's longevity records won't mean anything. As long as there's a visual record of anything, people will be able to make up their own minds over who they think is better, and until someone has the physical gifts of MJ (which I've yet to see again), I just don't know. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing players, but MJ just had some all round talents that I don't see stack up as a totality in anyone else as a package of game.

Anyone who doesn't think Mike would absolutely dominate today has never seen him play. I saw a game the other day and most of the team was sitting around the 3pt line waiting for the ball, including the big men. Dude would seriously bounce twice and take flight. He wouldn't need a 3 ball when you can't stop hos short and mid range game

The reason why Jordan wore 45 when he came back was because Jordan came back with 18 games left in the season and his number 23 had been retired. There is a rule in the NBA that you can't unretire a number in the middle of a season. So he wore 45 ( His baseball number) for the rest of that season and brought back 23 the following year! Oh, and your question about him wearing another number because his jersey got stolen, happened on February 4th, 1990, he had to wear number 12 for that game.

The goat forever timeless

The "unnecessary" layup against the Lakers is actually an attempt to draw a foul that was the old school three-point play and you can see by watching Michael he thrived on drawing a foul and getting the basket... This video reaction was very entertaining to watch!!

When Jordan came back the NBA wouldn't let him wear 23 because it was already retired. So he went with his high-school baseball number. He only wore 45 for almost half a season, and got fined for going back to 23 without NBA approval

Jordan NEVER STOPPED PUNCHING 😂😂😂😂😂

One of the main things people miss is how many people are in the paint when Jordan played. Usually at least one 7 footer. Imagine if you can what Jordan would do with the spacing in today's game with no true centers protecting the rim.

I always thought D Wade was better than LeBron. You are wrong about the defense thing, they had to play man to man, no zone. You had to stay on your man or double or they would call illegal defense. They don't play too much defense nowadays Your hand checking debate makes no sense, they was not grabbing cause they couldn't stop them and they wasn't plummers These new dudes are soft and always crying about a foul, play real ball, oh they can't

The comment about how the old school player played 82 games versus this load management era kind of takes away from this age groups are better physically. And based on numbers MJ is still GOAT. Know one can live up to that 23. 25 years from now when you ask who wore 23 MJ will always be the answer.

He had 45 on because, during the 2 years he retired, they retired his Jersey and hung It in the rafters. But after a few games he wanted his jersey back.

Great reaction.. I got #1 MJ #2 LARRY #3 MAGIC #4 LEBRON #5 KAREEM. No other 5 can beat my 5..lol

14:33 he said he anticipated them to jump and try and block it so he changed his mind in the air and switched it up. It looks unnecessary at face value but it was a reason he did that. He was also red hot in that finals game and that was his 13th consecutive shot made in a row. 🐐🙌🏾💯

He had 45 on because his number 23 was retired by the team immediately after he retired to play baseball. Later they took the number down from the ceiling and unretired the number so he can wear it again. Number 45 was his older brother's number and 23 he wore was half of 45.

Dawg. Your reaction at the end of the video is priceless. Just think about it watching him play throughout the years. You got to watch the last 3 minutes of game six of the 98 finals

His jersey was not stolen. When MJ returned to the NBA after his dad was murdered, he didn’t want to wear #23 if his dad couldn't see him wear it. After 22 games, he went back to # 23

I truly truly wish kids could go back an watch mjs career the way we did. the build up, the pressure, the nail biting moments, an most importantly get to know who his competition was an just how good they were. It's not the same just hearing about old teams. So tired of hearing kids claim he had weak competition. You could hear the contact an physicality live. If every nba fan could go back an experience that an compare it to what they experienced with bron.. this wouldn't even be a debate.

22:56 - Aside the fact that he retired the #23 after his first three championships from 91-93, the #45 came from his father who got killed during his retirement. He wore that number when he played baseball as a child and when he played Minor Leagues in between his basketball retirement. He only wore it for half of his return in the 94-95 season either before or after they lost the Eastern Conference Finals to Shaq and Penny's Magic

Stay in the league longer don't make you the goat. Jordan played in a era where 1 million was a good salary. And 25 years later worth 3.3 billions. He came in the league at day one and took the world by storm. And the mix tape was like every single game all game.

Michael Jordan’s older brother was number 45 and Michael looked up to him. The reason why he’s number 23 is because 23 is half of 45 (22.5). It was in one his first documentary back in the day (1989). Come Fly With Me was the name of the documentary.

There some crazy jordan stats that will blow your mind. He had more 40 point games than under 20 point games. In the play offs he had more 50 point games than games with less than 20. Was MVP, defensive player of the year, and scoring champ in the same year. Has 19 of the top 100 game scores of all time. Is number 1 in almost every advanced stat. out of thr 10 times in history someone averaged 40 in a play off series, 6 of the times were by MJ and 4 were 4 other players (i might need fact checked on that one). Led the league in scoring 10 times, the next is Wilt with 7, after that a few guys had 4. Only outscored by one player in a playoff series in his entire career by .2 pts as a rookie. There are so many that its impossible to list them all.

After he retired the first time, 23 was retired and hung in the rafters. So when he came back he wore 45. He wasn't playing up to his standards so he blamed the number and went back to 23. HIs last 3 years with Bulls, he was playing in games with his number retired in the rafters and his statue in front of the arena,

What made that layup dope against the Lakers also was Marv Albert's commentary after..

They retired number 23 when he retired. He came back with 17 games left and wore 45. Following season he paid a fine and put 23 back on.

Jordan wore the number 45 jersey when he came out of first retirement late in the 1994-1995 season for several reasons: One, because of the prior tragic death of his father (1993) and what he meant to him, Jordan was motivated to "start over" with the number 45. Two, his number 23 jersey had been retired by the Bulls organization in 1994 while Jordan, in first retirement, was playing baseball. Three, Jordan wore the number 45 jersey while he played baseball with the White Sox. Four, number 45 was the jersey number that Jordan wore when he played baseball and JV basketball in high school. He switched back to the number 23 jersey in the second round of 1995 EC playoffs against the Orlando Magic. In the opening game, Jordan scored 19 points (8/22 shooting) and Bulls lost the game. Nick Anderson, who had stolen the ball from Jordan in the last seconds of that game to set up the decisive score, told reporters, "No. 45 doesn't explode like No. 23 used to. No. 45 is not No. 23. I couldn't have done that to No. 23." The next game (May 10, 1995), Jordan came back wearing the number 23 jersey, dropped 38 points on the Magic, and the Bulls won that game 104-94. The Chicago Bulls were fined $25K for Jordan wearing his old number 23 jersey (because it had already been retired), but he continued wearing the number until his second retirement with the Bulls in 1998. In addition, it was also the number jersey (No. 23) that he wore when he came out of retirement number two to play with the Wizards. Iconic!

It will NEVER change...

Just look at the center's Jordan had to play against when he was attacking the paint. Prime Hakeem, prime David Robinson, prime Patrick Ewing, young shaq who was insane, prime mutombo, prime morning. He also faced moses malone. When he went to the rim thats who he had to dunk on.

The thing alot of the generations after Jordan's years simply don't realize is that this was MJ every 👏 single 👏 night 👏. No plays off. No rest management. No resting on defense. No backing down. He WAS thee Apex predator of the league! Unrivaled in determination & killer instinct. Skilled in everyway. Motivated to play every game at a level others just couldn't reach. Ten scoring titles (NBA record) in an era where physicality was at its highest (imagine how many more he would have had if players couldn't touch him), 6 Championships (2 three peats with no losses), 5 MVPs, 6 Finals MVPs, a Defensive Player of the Year award which was usually given to the big men of that time and countless other benchmark stats that have yet to be broken. Still the only player in NBA history to win the scoring title, MVP, a Championship, Finals MVP and be named to the All-Defensive 1st team in the same season. He did that 4 times. Nearly every obscure stat has Jordan's name on top of it or in it. And all of this was done in the Golden Era of the league, in effectively 14 seasons. Twelve seasons if we only look at his Bulls years. Nearly eleven Bulls years if we take out the majority of his second season that he lost due to a foot injury. That is an insane accumulation of accomplishments and stats in such a relatively average length career. He played all 82 in 9 of those seasons. Just imagine the accomplishments and stats he could have accumulated had he played 17, 18, 19 or 20 seasons. Just imagine where he would be sitting on the "all-time" lists. How many more titles and points he would have amassed. Imagine if he doesn't retire for two years in his PRIME or Jerry Krause/Reinsdorf don't kick Phil to the curb at the end of The Last Dance in '98 making MJ's decision to retire again that much easier. That Bulls team had the ability to win 8 straight, maybe more. Just imagine how much higher the benchmarks would have been pushed. It's insane to think about. Also, take this into consideration. LeBron passed Kareem in scoring in year 20. We know this. Great accomplishment. But that is a longevity stat. Kobe, Karl, LeBron and Kareem all sit above Jordan on the scoring list and they all played 20 seasons or more. All with similar scoring totals (obviously). Now think of this, at 14 seasons, respectively, Jordan was ahead of all 4 of them in points. Jordan was nearly 5000 points ahead of LeBron at that point - not to mention he was ahead of LeBron in every statistical category other than assists at that point as well. But if you do the math by his averages, Jordan surpasses Kareem in potentially his 17th season. Years ahead of LeBron. I mean, simply give Jordan back his second season due to injury and the two seasons he retired in his prime, right there is Kareem passing territory. He also most likely catches and surpasses Stockton for steals leader as well. So when you look at it that way, it becomes quite clear that Jordan's career and potential was on a whole other level. Not knocking LeBron or anyone else. Greats are great, no matter the way we look at it. But one guy simply towered over the rest. Perspective tells us that. Luckily I got to see his career unfold. It was a remarkable time to watch basketball. And that isn't just nostalgia talking either. It is just the way it was. Game in and game out. Jordan simply put, is the GOAT. "You are simply the standard by which basketball excellence is measured." - David Stern PS... Jordan wore 45 when he came back because 23 was the last number his Father saw him play before he was killed, and Mike wanted his return to be a new era of his career. He brought back 23 when Nick Anderson of the Magic made the infamous statement in the 94-95 playoffs "45 is not 23". The next season, MJ and the Bulls devoured the Shaq/Penny led Magic team in the playoffs. Nick Anderson didn't have much to say to that.

Jordan has said it many occasions that his game is modeled after his brother Larry Jordan and David Thompson

The greatest who ever play MJ is 🐐🏀

#45 was his number as a baseball player in middle school. He plays MLB double A with that number as well. When he came back in 1995 to play the last 17 games of the Bulls 1994-1995 season, he used the #45 for 10 games. Then he switched to #23 for the last 2 weeks of the season. The Bulls were at the 8th position for the playoffs and almost about to be eliminated from the playoffs. The Bulls went 13-4 with MJ on those finals 17 games and finished 5th in the Eastern Conference.

imagine jordan today, with what we know now about sports. with nobody willing to hard foul this man. he's putting up at least 40 a night, never taking a night off and leaping 50". i've watch a lot of sports in my life, and nobody i've ever watched had his kind of will to win at all costs, combined with the ability to actually pull it off. the man was ice cold. us old guys aren't calling mike the best bball player ever......we're telling everyone he's the greatest athlete ever.

During Mike's 6 championship seasons he only missed a total of 6 games. That's insane

#1 MJ #2 Kobe #3 Wilt #4 Bird #5 Magic #6 James

After the 1993 season, MJs dad was murdered and MJ retired. His #23 jersey was also retired. When he returned to the Bulls in 1995, he changed to #45 because his dad was no longer able to watch him play. 45 was the first number he wore in high school. After 22 games, he switched back to 45. Btw, he paid a substantial fine every game for the rest of that season because #23 had been retired by the Bulls

it's crazy how people have now conflated the Russell era with the Jordan era to claim that 90s NBA was a league of plumbers.

MJ was a menace back then 😂

He was #45 because he retired for a year (some say that he served a secret year suspension that year) playing baseball during that time. As soon as he said he retired, they retired his 23 number. When he came back, he couldnt wear 23 until some technicalities got worked out and they unretired the number.

Oh Brotha, you didn't know??? He was "John Wick w the Infinity Gauntlet"